The present invention relates to a handled container such as a large-sized mineral water container and a method of molding such a handled container.
A large-sized mineral water container of synthetic resin material is generally known. Such a large-sized mineral water container usually has a capacity of 12 to 20 liters.
Such a large-sized mineral water container is delivered to and used in general homes and workplaces in North America and Central and South America. Each of the delivered mineral water containers is mounted upside down in a dispenser which has been installed in the house or workplace. Recently, the mineral water has been broadly used even in Japan. Thus, such large-sized mineral water containers are being delivered to houses and workplaces in Japan.
However, the large-sized mineral water containers filled with mineral water is very heavy and inconvenient in carrying. Particularly, when it is to be placed in the dispenser, a great effort is required. Various tools and devices for easily carrying the large-sized mineral water containers have been proposed.
Although various proposals for integrally forming a handle in a large-sized container through a direct blow molding process have been made, no container with a separate handle connected thereto through a blow molding process is not still proposed.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a handled container which can be easily carried and placed into a dispenser by forming a container body integrally with a handle, and a method of molding such a handled container.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a handled container comprising:
a container body formed by blow molding in a blow mold and having an inwardly depressed portion in a bottom portion;
a carrying handle formed integrally with the container body by the blow molding at a position corresponding to the depressed portion in the blow mold; and
an insertion space formed between the handle and the bottom portion of the container body for inserting two or more fingers.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of molding a handled container comprising:
inserting a handle at a bottom of a blow mold; and
clamping the blow mold and blow-molding a preform into a container body having an inwardly depressed portion in a bottom portion of the container body,
wherein the blow molding step includes a step of integrally molding the depressed portion of the container body with the handle.
According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the handle can securely be integrated with the container body by blow molding the container body after the handle has been disposed at a bottom of the blow mold corresponding to the depressed portion. Since the insertion space is formed inside of the handle within the depressed portion, furthermore, fingers can be inserted into the insertion space so that an inverted container body can be lifted and carried by grasping the handle. Particularly, the container body can easily be placed into a generally used dispenser since the container is lifted and carried upside down. This is extremely convenient for large-sized containers.
Since the handle can be gasped by two or more fingers, any large-sized container filled with heavy contents can be easily carried.
In the handled container according to the first aspect of the present invention, the container body may have a ground-contact portion which has a continuous shape and is formed in an outer periphery of the bottom portion; the depressed portion may be formed by depressing the bottom portion of the container body inwardly from the ground-contact portion; and the handle may be formed to be positioned inwardly from the ground-contact portion within the depressed portion of the container body.
In the molding method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the container body may have a ground-contact portion which has a continuous shape and is formed in an outer periphery of the bottom portion; the depressed portion may be formed by depressing the bottom portion of the container body inwardly from the ground-contact portion; the blow mold may include a raised bottom mold corresponding to the depressed portion; and the handle may be disposed into the raised bottom mold in the inserting step.
Thus, by disposing the handle into the raised bottom mold and blow molding the container body, a ground-contact portion which has a continuous shape and is formed in an outer periphery of the bottom portion of the container body can be formed; and by depressing the bottom portion of the container body inwardly from the ground-contact portion, the depressed portion can be formed. Since the bottom of the container body is not easily deformed in the presence of the ground-contact portion having a continuous shape even when the container body is lifted through the grasped handle, the handle can securely be prevented from being separated from the bottom of the container body.
Since the handle is located inwardly from the ground-contact portion, the container body will not adversely be affected by the handle even when it is placed on the ground. Furthermore, the connection between the handle and the container body will not broken even when the container falls onto the ground, since the impact will not be transmitted directly to the handle.
In this handled container, the handle may have a grip, a reinforcement plate located substantially parallel to the grip, and a pair of arm portions which respectively connects opposite ends of the grip and the reinforcement plate. Moreover, the reinforcement plate may have a wide portion which has a width larger than the grip.
In such an arrangement, a space into which fingers can be inserted can securely be formed between the reinforcement plate and the grip. In addition, the reinforcement plate will not be distorted on blow molding since the reinforcement plate has its width larger than that of the grip and is supported by the blow mold on blow molding.
In the handled container according to the first aspect of the present invention, the container body may have a ground-contact portion formed in an outer periphery of the bottom portion; and the depressed portion may be formed by inwardly depressing the center of the bottom portion, a bottom of the depressed portion being parallel to the bottom portion of the container body, and the ground-contact portion being divided into two portions by the depressed portion.
In the method of molding a handled container according to the second aspect of the present invention, the container body may have a ground-contact portion formed in an outer periphery of the bottom portion; the depressed portion may be formed to extend across the ground-contact portion to divide the ground-contact portion in two portions; the blow mold may include split blow cavity molds having a bottom shape corresponding to the depressed portion and ground-contact portion; and the handle may be disposed into the split blow cavity molds in the inserting step.
In this configuration, the handled container can be molded without need of any raised bottom mold by performing the blow molding process after the handle has been inserted into the split blow cavity molds having a bottom shape corresponding to the depressed portion and ground-contact portion. This simplifies the structure of the blow mold.
In the handled container, the handle may be a rod-like member including a grip and projected engagement portions at the opposite ends of the grip; and the projected engagement portions may be engaged integrally with an inner wall of the depressed portion.
In this configuration, the bottom of the container body having the ground-contact portion divided in two by the depressed portion can be prevented from being deformed to separate it from the handle when the container body is lifted through the grasped handle.
In the handled container according to the first aspect of the present invention, the container body may have a ground-contact portion formed in an outer periphery of the bottom portion; and the depressed portion may be formed to extend from the substantial center of the bottom portion to part of the ground-contact portion, causing the ground-contact portion to have a substantially U-shape.
In the molding method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the container body may have a ground-contact portion formed in an outer periphery of the bottom portion; and the depressed portion may be formed to extend from the substantial center of the bottom portion to part of the ground-contact portion; the blow mold may include a pair of split blow cavity molds and a bottom mold for forming a central portion of the depressed portion; and one of the split blow cavity molds may form a portion for inserting the handle, and the split blow cavity mold and part of the bottom mold may support the handle in the inserting step.
In this configuration, the handle can be insert-molded without forming the handle into an annular configuration.
In this handled container, the handle may have a grip and a pair of arm portions extending from opposite ends of the grip; and both ends of the arm portions may be respectively formed to be integrated with substantially L-shaped projected engagement portions.
Thus, the handle will not be separated from the container body since there is the projected engagement portions in the handle that function as anti-removal means.
In the method of molding a handled container according to the second aspect of the present invention, the integrally molding step may be performed by transforming a resin of the preform corresponding to the bottom portion of the container body along the shape of the handle without stretching the resin in a direction opposite to the direction of longitudinal stretch.
Thus, the resin material of the preform can sufficiently be engaged with the handle at the bottom of the container body without stretching the resin material in the direction opposite to the longitudinally stretching direction of the preform as in engaging a handle with a barrel portion of a container. Thus, the handle can securely be formed integrally with the container body without easy removal of the handle.
In the method of molding a handled container according to the second aspect of the present invention, the integrally molding step may be performed by transforming a resin of the preform corresponding to the bottom portion of the container body along the shape of the handle, the resin being a relatively thick and having a large amount of heat.
Thus, the bottom of the container body will be blow molded without being substantially stretched unlike the container barrel. Therefore, the container bottom will have an increased thickness and an increased amount of heat. When the resin material is blow molded to be integrated with the handle in such a state, the handle can securely be integrated with the container body. As a result, the handle will not easily be removed from the container body.